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Advocating for Reform
Up one levelJustice reform does not happen in a vacuum and many partners are needed in the work. For this reason, PF national organisations in Pacific sponsor justice reform seminars and training sessions on a variety of topics including restorative justice, human rights and best practices in prison. They are also responding to government proposals for new legislation and policy as well as running public awareness campaigns through different media outlets.
- Focus on Prisoner Reintegration
- The PF New Zealand 2007 annual conference, When Prisoners Come Home… A Community Response to Prisoner Reintegration, highlighted the many issues surrounding a prisoner’s release from prison.
- Rethinking Crime and Punishment
- It’s a burgeoning problem that many may not even be aware of. The imprisonment rate in New Zealand has reached epidemic proportions—it is 164 per 100,000, double what it was in 1980 and now one of the highest in the world. The New Zealand Department of Corrections estimates that it costs $161.91 (NZD) per day for each prisoner, so the added prisoners result in an extra $141 million per year. And imprisonment does not seem to be changing the criminal behaviour of prisoners because 60 percent of all released prisoners re-offend within two years. As is the case in many countries, the issues surrounding crime and punishment are demanding new solutions.
- Advocating for Victims’ Rights in New Zealand
- On September 7, PF New Zealand representatives addressed the New Zealand Justice and Electoral Committee Inquiry into Victims Rights. The PF NZ team recommended that the government strengthen victims’ access to victim offender conferencing and victim offender panels.
- New Zealanders Visit Europe to Explore Possible Prison Reforms
- From 30 January to 7 February, PF New Zealand executive director Kim Workman joined a governmental team on a fact finding trip to visit prisons in the UK, Finland, and the Netherlands. Organized by the New Zealand Minister of Corrections, the fact-finding team spoke with government and corrections officials, prison reformers, and community providers exploring alternative offender management models.